Hurdy-Gurdy Hare (1950)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Animation by JC Melendez
Music by Carl Stalling
I love “Hurdy Gurdy Hare” because it doesn’t really follow the traditional formula for Bugs Bunny toons. It feels a lot like a callback to the Abbot and Costello show where there’s not a real plot line. There’s just a lot of stuff that happens and Bugs Bunny is at the forefront of it all. Seriously, a lot of stuff just happens with not a lot of the usual Bugs Bunny defending people or whatnot. It’s just Bugs trying to make a living and coming across a devious, greedy little monkey.
One of my favorite off the cuff moments of comedy is when the little monkey is complaining to the big gorilla and imitates Bugs for a split second muttering “What’s up doc?! What’s up doc?! What’s up doc?!” in a high pitch impression. Truthfully you could say that the villains of the short are the primates, but I saw them more as bullies. The big gorilla looks a lot like former Bugs villain Gruesome (from 1948’s “Gorilla My Dreams”), but he’s not really identified as such in other written materials. The monkey and gorilla are basically nameless, even though the gorilla resembles Gruesome an awful lot.
The title “Hurdy Gurdy Hare” is a bit inaccurate as Bugs does go shopping for a hurdy gurdy on the newspaper for the sake of making money. In the next scene he shows up with a street organ and a monkey. For what reason they changed this or stuck with this error is beyond me. I assume it was for the sake of the title, but it thankfully doesn’t hinder the short’s whole momentum.
Bugs Bunny is sitting around trying to figure out how to make money when he comes across an ad in a newspaper for a used hurdy gurdy. Deciding it a good idea, he walks through New York with a street organ and a monkey to fetch his tips for him. Much to his annoyance, the monkey is a thief and he shoos him away. Angry, the monkey complains to a massive gorilla at the zoo about Bugs. The vengeful gorilla breaks free and decides to break Bugs. Bugs, using his wits, fends off the gorilla as best as he can. Bugs is always apparently prepared for everything and with the gorilla bully he is almost defeated thanks to his brute strength.
There are a lot of fun gags involving the gorilla’s strength including him effortlessly smashing down a wall, lifting Bugs up and down a ladder as he attempts to flee, and somehow convincing him to jump in to a canopy. The icing on the cake is when the disheveled gorilla emerges from the hole reading a paper and holding a handle like a subway with a “Bronx Expressway” sign wrapped around his shoulder. Bugs doesn’t so much win the battle as he finds a way to get the beast over on his side. It’s a hilarious touch, especially considering even the monkey goes along with him.
“Hurdy Gurdy Hare” is still a good laugh riot, one free of goofy propaganda and just delivers on good, random hilarity.
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